Snowball Fight
by GrievousHasABadCough
Summary: Kabuto gives his idea for a morale booster for the Hidden Sound Ninja.
1. Chapter 1

It was a cool winter day in the Hidden Sound Base. Orochimaru was sitting outside, wrapped in a warm coat and scarf, his hands and head wrapped in mittens and a hat. He pulled down his scarf, blowing out a puff of air and watching it float up to the heavens. He stared at the grey clouds above, watching as the snow fell down towards the ground, fat and filled with water.

"Perfect weather for a snowball fight, eh Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto said, bundled up similarly to his master. Though his mittens were actually gloves, and he scipped the scarf, fearing his breath would fog up his glasses.

"A snowball fight?" He hissed. "Have you lost your-?!"

"Hear me out sir. The other ninja have seemed to be low on spirit lately. I think this would be a perfect way to raise morale." The grey haired ninja smiled smugly as his master paused to think. The older man had to admit, morale _was_ very low. After losing his arms and getting them back, them being seemingly defeated at every turn, everyone seemed to be down in the dumps.

"Fine. A snowball fight it is. Your team versus mine." He said a devilish smile spreading across his features. "You gather your half, I'll gather mine."

"Any rules?"

"Your hit with a snowball from either team and you're out."

"So friendly fire kills?" The older nodded. "Good. What time do we start?"

"Hmm... two hours from now." He said turning to head back inside. Kabuto smiled at his master's retreating form, excited that they were finally doing something fun. It's been years since his last snowball fight. He remembered being the last one to get hit. He was proud of that. Oh so proud.

Unable to contain his excitement, he ran into the base with a goofy grin plastered on his features and went to recruit his troops.


	2. Chapter 2

Several of the sound ninja were shocked at the proposal made by their master. A snowball fight? Several ninja looked at the person next to them, wondering what gave Orochimaru this childish idea.

"Well? What do you say?" The snake master said, crossing his arms. The bulk of his winter coat made this slightly difficult, but he managed.

"Lord Orochimaru?" Tayuya spoke up. "I have a question."

"What?"

"Who will the captains be?" Orochimaru smiled slightly.

"Myself and Kabuto. We're going to make the teams balanced. I believe the rules would be you can't use any jutsu, and if your hit, your out."

"My Lord, are you feeling alright?" Kidomaru asked, wringing his bottom set of hands. Orochimaru frowned.

"If you don't want to participate, you don't have to. There's no reason to question my health." He said calmly, making the Sound Four shiver. He was scary when he was angry, but the fact that he wasn't was terrifying for some reason. "I'll take Tayuya and Kidomaru for my team. You two will be sub-captains. How many ninja do we have?"

"Around 2000." Jirobo said. "Including us."

"Tayuya, find the rest of the team. I would say half of our forces. Jirobo, inform the rest they'll be with Kabuto."

"Yes sir."

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The preparations were complete. Everyone knew the rules of the game. The ninja were bristling with anticipation. Each started with a snowball in their hands, waiting for the whistle from Ukon and Sakkon, who were refereeing.

"Ready...?" Sakkon started. Ukon blew the whistle and Orochimaru's team jumped back, then scattered. Kabuto's team scattered with them, following. Kidomaru made his way to the ground, making two more snowballs to throw. He listened for a moment, cursing the fact he couldn't use any jutsu or traps.

The sudden sound of snow whipping towards him caught his attention, and he dodged, throwing one of his snowballs in the direction of the one he dodged. a groan came from that direction and then an "oof". Kidomaru looked, walking over to his assailant. It was someone from the other team. His face was covered in snow.

"Oh yeah!" He said. "Score one for Team Orochimaru!"

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Jirobo and several teammates stood in a circle, surrounded by several of Orochimaru's team. All of the shinobi were primed to throw their ammo at the opponent, waiting for the enemy to start throwing. Jirobo threw a curve ball, hitting about 7 of the people in front of him and his teammates. He used the opportunity to flee with his comrades, forcing Team Orochimaru to throw what they had at them. As he ran, he hastilly gathered up some snow and packed it into a hard ball.

"Keep going, I'll catch up!" He told the rest of his group. They nodded and left, leaving the chunky ninja to fend for himself. he looked up at the trees, searching for something. When he saw what he was looking for, he moved towards it, still on the ground. Five ninja followed him, while the rest followed his paused a few feet from where he wanted the ninja to stand and smiled once they arrived. "You're done." He whipped the snowball at the tree hard enough to dislodge the snow in the branches. All of it fell on the five ninja making him laugh. He left to join his group, laughing the whole way.

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Tayuya frowned, sitting with the people who were out. She was taken out fairly early by Kabuto, and she didn't like it. With her arms crossed, she sat in her winter jacket and sweatpants, shivering. She hated the cold. But she had to admit, it was fun laughing and joking with the guys who got out. This was a pretty fun day. She was glad Orochimaru agreed to doing this.

Soon, Kidomaru came over, covered in snow from head to toe with several other ninja in the same position.

"What happened to you?" Tayuya snickered

"Jirobo happened. He whipped a snowball at the trees and made the snow fall on us from the branches..." He grumbles.

"Same happened to us." Another ninja that came earlier said. "It's a good idea. I wish we thought of it."

A growl came from behind the new group as Kabuto, Jirobo and four of Team Kabuto came over with Orochimaru. The snake master's hair was covered in snow and his teeth were chattering. Tayuya and Kidomaru looked shocked. They had lost?! Orochimaru was going to be mad...!

But intead of yelling about their failure, he smiled, then burst into a fit of laughter. It was so hard and so joyous that he could no longer stand, and he held his stomach, laughing as he fell back onto his butt. The sound ninja looked shocked and slowly began to join in, nervously at first, but then genuinely when Kabuto mounted his leader and began tickling him in the snow.

After all that, you could only imagine the boost the ninja got from the event, and their performance soared. Everyone was happy, including Orochimaru. They all packed into different rooms, talking as they drank hot cocoa, trying to warm up and dry off after the snow melted.

"We should do this again." Orochimaru said, before taking a sip of his cocoa, his hands wrapped around the cup to warm them. He had wrapped himself in a warm blanket, pulling his hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of his drink.

"You think so?" Kabuto asked shocked.

"Yes. I've never been in a snowball fight. I rather liked it." He said, smiling slightly. "Besides, it's good training."

"I knew you would. It's good to have fun once and a while. All work and no play..."

"Makes Jack a dull boy. I know. I'm still mad at you for tickling me."

"Laughter is the best medicine." He said. "Your always frowning, so i thought keeping you laughing would benifit your health."

"Uh huh. Sure." Tayuya said, listening in. "You just wanted to stradle Lord Orochimaru." Orochimaru burst out laughing as he saw how red the medical ninja became, and Tayuya giggled as well.

"I did not!" He protested making them laugh more. _Laughter is the best medicine... indeed it is. I feel much lighter in the chest._ Orochimaru thought. _We're definately doing this again next year._


End file.
